Subtasks and iPhone, can't get it to work for GTD

I've spend a few hours trying to get subtasks to go under their parents on the iphone app. They seem to display where ever they want to, and I couldn't set any sort options that made them go where they belong. I read a number of posts on this forums, and the only solutions seemed to be workarounds like using tags, or naming conventions.

I want to use subtasks for projects per GTD. This is why I purchased the premium service.

Ex:
Projects folder:
Project name
Task 1
Task 2
Task 3

What I end up with is:

Projects folder:
Project name
some other task in the projects folder
Task 3
Some other project name
Task 1
...

The other issue was that the only way to get something into a subtask, was to create it under the parent. Sometimes when I think of a task, I need to get it down right away. I don't have time to look through the projects folder, find the parent, and create a subtask. Is there a way to get a task to turn into a subtask on the iPhone version?

On Toodledo's iPhone app there are two options for displaying subtasks - inline or hidden. As far as I know you cannot display them indented like you can on the website.

To access this option, when you are viewing a list of tasks just pull down on the screen to access the toolbar. On the left hand side you will see a link 'Hidden Tasks'. Tap on this and you will see the subtask display option.

Regarding your second question, I can see no way to move an existing task to become a subtask or to move a subtask from one parent to another. I'm not a regular user of the Toodledo iPhone app so others can correct me if I am wrong.

I use this capability all the time on the app I use regularly. Didn't realise it was missing from Toodledo.

Thanks for taking the time to read and respond to this. I've used the inline setting, before I posted. I don't want hidden, because I don't want to forget about a task. But, when I had a number of projects, with subtasks in the projects folder. They sorted like I indicated above with subtasks and projects all mixed up.I was unable to find a sort option that would make them display under their parent. I wasn't looking for them to indent, although that would be nice.

This exploration stems because I've been looking at the iphone version of Ominfocus. I would rather stay with Toodledo, because it has been rock sold reliable. But I would like a better implementation of GTD.

The deal breaker may not be the subtask stuff. If I can't create a subtask quickly, or have to do some cut and paste operations when I want to move something from my inbox, to a project subtask, that will probably put me off from using subtasks at all.

The parent/subtask handling in Toodledo's iPhone app has been the main reason that I've always stuck with Appigo Todo instead - it just works sensibly and intuitively and still makes it possible for a subtask to appear 'loose' in the hotlist.

And I can quickly create tasks in my inbox and later come back to them to move them into projects or checklists if needed. You can sync Appigo Todo with Toodledo so it's possible to keep with the online version if you wish.

Bruce - no, there is no cost to sync Todo with Toodledo. It just works.

Note that Todo does not support all of Toodledo's fields, e.g:
-start date
-start time
- goals
- location
Not sure if there are others.

If you use any of these fields in Toodledo online they won't cause a problem in Todo nor will they be lost when you sync. You just won't be able to see them on your iPhone in Todo.

One other thing to note with regards to parent/subtasks: Todo ensures that subtasks are kept in the same folder as their parent. Toodledo does not. So if you move a subtask into a different folder in Toodledo, Todo will put it back into the same folder as the parent when you sync. This is how I wanted to work anyway so it wasn't an issue for me.

I now use Appigo Todo Online instead of Toodledo because the latter's project handling was just too problematic for me.

I do not care for Appigo Todo myself because it hides subtasks behind projects all the time, except in the hotlist. Also, it does not support the start date.

What you want is to have subtasks indented on the web site. I suggest having projects as a context so it is easy to get a list of just projects. I use "-Projects" so it sorts to the top. On an iPhone or iPad, look at just your projects. The tasks for each project will pop up for you when you touch the subtasks field of each project. If you are looking at a task in a context menu, you can see the project above it the same way. You can even go up and then down into the list of next actions for each project. It's actually pretty simple and convenient.

I've put some more time into trying to make the subtasks work. The deal breaker is that I can't find a way on the iPhone (where I spend 100% of my time with Toodledo because I'm mobile) to quickly add a task on the fly, and later move it to a subtask when I have more time to clear my "inbox"

The only way I can figure out, is to actually be on the parent task, and click subtask. This takes too much time, and caused me to forget some items, because I couldn't keep them in my head while I moved through a list of projects, and than selected subtask.

I need to be able to quickly list a task, and figure out where it goes, later.

I've put some more time into trying to make the subtasks work. The deal breaker is that I can't find a way on the iPhone (where I spend 100% of my time with Toodledo because I'm mobile) to quickly add a task on the fly, and later move it to a subtask when I have more time to clear my "inbox"

The only way I can figure out, is to actually be on the parent task, and click subtask. This takes too much time, and caused me to forget some items, because I couldn't keep them in my head while I moved through a list of projects, and than selected subtask.

I need to be able to quickly list a task, and figure out where it goes, later.

If I'm wrong about this, please let me know.

Thanks,

Bruce

That is the one thing that Appigo Todo does do that the Toodledo iOS app does not. It doesn't bother me too much. Often, I am following up on an existing task, and I go up one level to the project and enter a new subtask. Even faster is to clone an existing task and then change the details. If I have something coming in from email, I can move it into the project later using the web interface.

The trick I use is to pre-pend the orphaned subtask with "+"... essentially a marker that says "I am an orphan that belongs to a project". I created a saved search on the website which shows active projects AND tasks beginning with "+" so, I can isolate everything for easy drag and drop at my weekly review.

If the orphan is the active next action, I may not even make it to the next review. In that case, the "+" is a visual prompt that the task belongs to a project, and I need to activate the 'next' next action. I also created a text shortcut in iOS that quickly generates the "+" by typing "pp" and hitting the spacebar.... makes for quick entry on the iPhone.

I've just fixed up the image links in my post above so you can see the relevant screen shots.

Posted by mco:

That is the one thing that Appigo Todo does do that the Toodledo iOS app does not.

There are a few other things Appigo Todo can do that Toodledo does not, but in my view this one is significant. Being able to assign/reassign tasks and subtasks into projects, checklists and also to change their context and tags is really useful.